Drinking Buddie
by omnamahshivayah
Summary: It was a soft and balmy night, the romantic sort that make secrets spill from lips- Byakuya's lips and who else is there to hear but Kurosaki Ichigo.


"I had a good night," Rukia said with a small smile. Ichigo smiled back.

"Well I guess I should go back," He answered, "before Byakuya sees me on his compound and bankais me into tomorrow." Rukia blushed.

"Nii-sama would do no such thing," She turned away before she could see the incredulous look Ichigo shot her. Rukia took her shoes off and mounted the stairs. She opened the door and looked back and smiled.

"Goodnight," Ichigo said softly, waving his hand in a distant way. She smiled back "Goodnight." To be cool, Ichigo shunpoed away.

He couldn't shunpo out of the palace grounds though, Byakuya's estate was simply that vast so he landed in the furthest garden from Rukia's room. Ichigo had never been there and took a moment to get his bearings. He didn't want to get lost again in the Kuchiki grounds. He looked at the sky and couldn't tell where he was from the face of stars against a perfectly black sky. There were many trees and they whispered softly and it was then Ichigo realized he wasn't alone.

Ichigo looked down and saw the back of a very familiar glossy, black head. His hair moved softly in the slight breeze and his robes fluttered slightly. Ichigo wasn't sure if to approach the man or not; he seemed at peace and Ichigo himself was having such a good night. Byakuya seemed to be having a better one though as he was sitting on a marble bench with a bottle of sake by his side. There was a lit candle floating in the middle of the pond and he seemed to be meditatively getting drunk.

"Byakuya?" He didn't really want to say anything but that caring part of him made him call out.

"What are you doing here," Long pause, "Kurosaki." Another long pause, "Ichigo." Ichigo stared at the back of the black head with wonder and felt like a man talking to the thing under the sheet in the corner of the room in a horror movie.

"Are-are you drunk?" No answer, Byakuya sipped his sake. It was strong stuff, he could smell only alcohol and barely any rice in the sake.

"Do you drink?" Byakuya asked. The wind lifted softly and the trees above them waved and the lamp light filtered through the leaves revealing a second sake cup next to the jar at his side. Ichigo considered turning him down but the night was balmy and light and Rukia had put him in a good mood- what ever had Byakuya drinking anything beside tea had to be worth his while.

Wordlessly Ichigo sat down after picking up the cup. He sat beside the noble, cup cradled in the palm of his hand, bottle of sake between them.

"This sake," Long pause, "this sake," short pause, "is over one hundred years old." Another pause; Byakuya looked at him with shiny gray eyes- he didn't look sober but he didn't look drunk- his eyes were just slightly unfocused; like when an artist gets the proportions in a drawing slightly wrong, "Have a taste." The noble's eyes had gone from zanpactu steel to silently powerful like a cloudy sky on a winter's day. Ichigo took a mouthful and regretted it. He gritted his teeth and tried not to gag as shivers ran up his spine. "Put some hair on your chest," His voice almost sounded like laughter; like how a sharp blade almost looks like it can't cut you.

"Any reason why you're drinking out here?" Byakuya was looking meditatively at the candle lit in the middle of the pond. The silence was long and solid; solid with the scream of animals trying furiously to get laid. Ichigo wondered what kind of sounds he had to make to get Rukia to-

"Do you know how I met Hisana?" Ichigo balked.

"In the Roukongai?"

"No," He answered in a hollow way that said- try again.

"Shinigami academy?"

"She was a handmaid." Long pause. Ichigo looked on at him and Byakuya sipped out of his cup. "For my fiance." Ichigo took that as a queue to drink his sake bowl empty. "Kampai." He said in that same cold voice he'd use for 'Bankai'. Ichigo looked over to see he was holding the sake jar at a tilt; not looking at at him; in his direction so Ichigo obligingly held his cup out.

"Arigato." Ichigo chased the drink with another and felt his entire world turn like a needle on a compass- or was did the compass turn around the needle? "How now?" It was all he could manage.

"She became my wife because my fiance didn't want me." Ichigo looked at Bakyua hard.

"You? Rejected by a woman" Ichigo scoffed, slowly Byakuya inclined his head and took another drink "I find that hard to imagine."

"She was a virgin who was brought up to be a wife- a noble wife and Hisana was her right hand woman. As a noble she had never stepped outside of her compound and needless to say Hisana was more than capable to be a noble wife." Another pause and Ichigo realized he was ruminating.

"But what made Hisana better equipped?"

"She was from the Roukongai, she had a special fire that came from hardship and suffering. It had made her back strong and her mind unbreakable."

"Ah," Ichigo said softly. He stretched his arms over his head. Maybe the alcohol was kicking in but-

'I think I should-"

"Would you like something to eat?" That made Ichigo stop mid-streatch and look at the Taicho wide eyed.

"S-sure." He half choked. Byakuya rang a bell and a servant appeared after a few moments. "Fetch some blankets for my company and I and make a platter." Ichigo knew he had to be drunk- the man was being nice to him. The servant looked equally surprised but bowed and left.

"They deceived me from the start as her Lady always dressed Hisana as the noble woman while she sat near-by as a maid. Later she would say it was because she wanted to get to know me from a different angle but honestly..." Byakuya knocked back his fifth drink, "I am no fool" The wind picked up and the trees whistled as though nature mirrored his annoyance.

"But didn't you have a picture or something or were you just buying cat in bag?"

"She always dressed Hisana in the traditional head dress and even padded her shoulders. She put Hisana in geisha shoes to add height and always made the girl always walked slightly bowed as though subservient. I thought she was perfect, Hisana's performance was remarkable. She even had my grandfather fooled."

"So how did you find out?" Byakuya looked at him then and the wind took his hair and waved it softly.

"Simple I pulled off her hat." Ichigo arched a brow.

"Isn't that like looking up a girl's skirt in the noble world?" Ichigo didn't know much but he had studied about nobles in school.

"You understand why everyone said I was 'out of control' in my day."

"What made you do that though?" Byakuya turned his face right away so that the wind carried his words.

"I was in love."

"So then you married her?"

"No. My grandfather arranged the marriage. He thought it was good for me and even talked me into hosting interviews. She was the sixth interview and she was perfect. Her head was always bowed and her hand motions were graceful. She never slipped up, not even once. I would have never known so when I discovered the folly, I reacted badly." Ichigo found himself gulping sake like poped corn- the story was good, the alcohol made him feel warm and it was just such a good story!

"Did you used Senbonzakura on her?" He asked with slightly drunken excitement. Byakuya gave him a look of disdain.

"Never." He poured himself another cup. "I brought her before the council and demanded full penalty."

"What's that?"

"Beheading." Ichigo gasped. If the Women Society were here they would have done the same.

"The fiance never defended herself, merely bowed and accepted full responsibility, but Hisana now..." Byakuya turned his face straight so that Ichigo would only see his cheeks raise in a smile.

"She fought back?" Ichigo looked away as he said it, feeling his pores raise at the sight of that smile. No wonder the man never smiled.

"She cussed everyone. She turned into a full ghetto girl." He shook his head in reminiscence, "She was a force to behold and I called her uncouth and unfit to even come near me- I called her filth-" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Some how his voice was so even even though he had poured another cup. "And she told me my head was superannuated and it was full of shit hence my words had to be farts and to shut the fuck up because frankly I was stinking up the room."

"Woah, Hisana was badassed!"

"And I almost beheaded her right there for it. I had my blade at her throat in moments and she looked back at me with rage like.." His hands went to his hear in a motion that Ichigo knew too well- it was the same motion that would get any man laid especially one of Byakuya's caliber. He caught himself and placed his hand on his lap again- the candle in the middle of the pond flickered for a moment and then strengthened in flame. "What did I expect? She was from the Rokoungai; she was no powder puff though she wore her clothes well and had better manners than the Lady in the room."

"What did you do?"

"I ordered her Lady to discipline her servant and so my fiance turned around and slapped her and apologized for her maid." Slowly Byakuya nodded his head. "I think it would have ended there but Hisana was on a different beat."

"What did she do?" Ichigo almost whispered.

"She slapped her mistress back and told us nobles we were worthless fools and she knew harlots that had better manners and that her Lady need not hold her skirts aside in the streets for any of them because she was no better."

"You mean she wasn't...?"

"That's what we all thought but Hisana clarified by saying this entire 'arranged marriage' was like another form of whoredom between rich people because it was loveless and ugly," Byakuya dropped his head to his chest, "and then she cried and demanded to be beheaded."

"What?" Ichigo looked at him quizzically, Ichigo couldn't see something like that happening.

"I think she was tired of all of it. As far as Hisana understood, she was going to die and she didn't care; she was going to stand up for herself and not let nobles dominate the last hours of her life."

"I thought Hisana is like Rukia." Ichigo half muttered.

"Never." Byakuya took another slow breath, "Hisana is a nova and Rukia a black hole." Ichigo felt offended but he saw the look in Byakuya's eyes- a longing for more to life -and realized what he said was very true; only he would know.

"So what did you do?"

"Geinrei-sama stepped in then; he said she shared my spirit and it was admirable and in another world she would be a noble or a soldier but due to circumstances she had committed high treason and though she wouldn't be pardoned, she earned the right to defend herself through trial and perhaps get an easier sentence."

"So what did the nobles do?"

"She presented herself in a compelling manner. She pointed out she was more capable than her lady and that for my information she fucked better too-"

"No, I don't believe you!" Byakuya looked at him and arched a challenging brow. "Sorry, it's just that I hear all these stories about a perfect woman."

"A perfectly married woman." He corrected softly. "But what about a woman who has been oppressed her whole life and desperate to live? What about a woman who had a reason to live for; more than to serve her master?" The servant came in and bowing, brought into the garden an entourage of servants. They set out mats and placed blankets on either side of a low table near the pond. On it was a massive gold platter full of beef, pork, shrimp and chicken. On the side there were many different sauces. The servants kowtowed and left. Ichigo sat in a daze staring at the everything in front of him.

"Shall we?" Byakuya motioned to the table as he got up walked over and Ichigo staggered over. The little plates had been set out and there was of course, more sake.

"Sho whaff dish day doo?" Ichigo asked through a mouthful of dry roast pork and soy-sauce.

"I fucked her." He answered in an unimpressed voice. Ichigo choked- it still hadn't registered to him that Byakuya was cursing but more so that Byakuya had done such a thing. "It was the final verdict. Either she gave up her maiden head- because she had to be a maiden to be a handmaid- or suffer death." Ichigo felt his appetite diminish. "So I took her to bed and sent her Lady back home."

"And she was so good you kept Hisana." Ichigo said with a smile.

"I sent her home. Hisana staked her virginity for her and her Lady's head." Suddenly Ichigo understood how she had the gungho to search for her little sister in the ghetto despite her declining health. "She came back a week later asking for a job, said her Lady did not want her anymore and that she would do what she could."

"So you took her in?" Ichigo felt he was wrong.

"No." And he was right about his feelings. "I had no practical use for her. She was trained to be the companion of a wife not a servant- she was supposed to live as a wife with her Lady but due to circumstances..." Ichigo had zoned into what he was saying and Byakuya let the silence play. So long that Ichigo was compelled to ask-

"So what did Hisana do?"

"She hung around. The servants fed her and hid her in an abandoned part of my compound. They put a reiatsu blocker around her neck- I would never have found her honestly."

"So what sold her out?" Byakuya looked up at the trees.

"This garden. She went around asking the gardeners for cuttings from their pruning and she tended to this overgrown garden." Ichigo looked around- it was all lilies and jasmines. There were chrysanthemums and sunflowers and a hibiscus growing next to a weeping willow- the entire garden was a patchwork of plants. "Her lilies smelled sweeter and it carried in the wind. The day I decided to follow the smell, I caught her tending to them."

"And you let her stay?"

"I had the guards drag her out of the house and thrown into the streets." Ichigo felt very sober.

"What the fuck was wrong with you?" He demanded angrily. Byakuya looked at him.

"I was an asshole." Was, Ichigo internally scoffed. Then again, if he really was that kind of man maybe he had come a long way. "I wanted her things burnt and wanted to do it in front of her so I had them open the gates and had her things brought out. All of it was technically my property but discarded things- rubbish. Ruined pieces of silk and ugly colored pieces of thread. She even had parchment I didn't want because the quality was poor all piled at my feet. In that moment, I realized what I was doing was wrong."

"What decided that for you?" Ichigo asked, trying to put himself there- her sitting in the streets probably crying while this noble was about to destroy the things that she had hoarded.

"I saw she made them into something. She had used the ruined silk and had stitched entire scenes in the ugly colors. All the parchment had full scenes painted unto them and that touched my soul." Another long pause.

"So what then?"

"I told her to approach and when she did I told her she could stay. She refused and she slapped me in the face and spat on my robes and turned away to leave. I had already decided she was very useful and I ordered the guards to closed the gate so the took her shoe off and thew it at my head as I walked away. I almost killed her and she screamed so horrifyingly I saw true fear in her eyes and I knew that I would never want to truly hurt her." Ichigo tried to process it and felt if he took Byakuya on now he would ultimately defeat him.

"Did you let her go?"

"She refused to go back into her room until every thing was right again. She went from terrified fugitive to woman of the house after ten minutes of lying flay on her back and crying in a hysterical way. Even when I went inside I wanted to kill her because she was screaming so much- I was beginning to think she really had lost it. Then she suddenly went quiet, called a servant and ordered them to fix her room back." Short pause. "And they did it quietly." Ichigo heard the note of pride in his voice. "After, I didn't see her for a month and one day I called on her to read a letter for me."

"Why?"

"I wanted to harass her. She was too quiet. Everyday I would go and look at her and what she was doing. Usually she slept with the door open and blankets up to her neck. She'd wake up and walk around the garden and talk to plants before she was even fully awake. Then she'd lay on the bridge," The one that ran over the pond with the candle floating in its center, "and watch the sun rise fully. Then she'd go inside and have what ever the servant brought. I changed her diet and she ordered the servants to change it back. I had her wardrobe changed and she ordered the servants to get her old clothes back. I got her a gardener and she ordered him to just sit there and don't touch a thing. I felt threatened- she had more power than I did."

"How could you say that?" Ichigo demanded, drunk,"She was just a handmaid!"

"She had power over me." Ichigo opened his mouth and said not one word. "She had me sitting on her roof all hours. I would look at her sleep, eat, write and draw. Eventually I began ignoring other tasks. Before I asked her to read a letter Geinrei-sama picked up on my feelings and ordered that she eat breakfast with us." Byakuya casually picked up a slice of beef and put it in his mouth while Ichigo drank more sake. "We were all shocked that the head of the home had her at our table dressed in a simple cotton kimono. More so, she served myself and my grandfather and even kowtowed after. She almost sat aside and waited for us to eat but Geinrei-sama told her to eat with us."

"So she acted like a traditional wife."

"Indeed, Geinrei-sama complimented her by telling her she suited the Kuchiki home so I decided to have her read a letter for me." Ichigo felt another messed up part coming on.

"What kind of a letter?"

"My love letters from her former Lady."

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Don't tell me you were dating that bitch after all that!" Ichigo burst out; he would have stood but now he was just too drunk.

"I had contacted her Lady to tell her where her maid was and her Lady took it as an opportunity to liaise with me. I wanted to hurt her; to let her know and hopefully see something about her I didn't like. I began to hate her because she was messing up my order. She made me just want to be around her all the time an even though I was now formerly dating her Lady, I thought of her on my dates. I casually brought her up and pressed her Lady about her habits and the woman scoffed about her and even laughed at her but what I heard made me love her more. I thought of her during training and got injured and people laughed and said I was in love. Word was getting around to the Lady that I was in love with her majesty so badly that I was injured during practice and became enamored and wrote long winded love letters. So I had Hisana read them."

"How the fuck did you even end up marrying her? You were a real abshull! Why wushee even.."

"She made fun of them. She accented her words like her Lady and rolled her eyes at some parts, she even snickered and I realized that so long as the had Geinrei-sama's approval I didn't matter- she didn't love me and couldn't hurt her. I was the one in love." Ichigo could practically hear Rukia going awww over the last bit. It was just that kind of crap Rukia loved to read- the unrequited love and the uncaring damsel who was technically in distress but somehow couldn't be bothered.

"So how did you even get her to like you?"

"I forced her to spend time with me."

"She actually liked spending time with you?" Ichigo scoffed.

"One day she stopped in the middle of the letter and told me very seriously that she forgot how to read and put it down and looked me dead in the face with the look of some of my very best soldiers and it was then I understood the true meaning of guts." Ichigo smiled.

"She was everything you wanted."

"She was far more.

"I think I can ask you this now..." The noble looked right at him with a soft gray gaze like down "Why tonight of all nights you're sitting here drinking like this?" Softly, Byakuya smirked.

"It's my anniversary."


End file.
